With the subtitle The New Lone Star Heritage Cookbook With More Than 200 Recipes it is clear that this cookbook is devoted to Texas food. Texas Eats, broken into several food based parts, is for folk foods and not haute cruise. It also is a history book providing lessons in the history and culture of Texas.

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After an acknowledgement page and a two page introduction, the book begins with â€œPart 1 Lone Star Seafood.â€Â After a brief introduction to â€œThe Coastal Bendâ€ on page 1 it is onto various chapters relating to seafood.Â Along with large sections of history about the region that includes historic pictures, there are the recipes based on Texas history and culture. This is where recipes from â€œBaffin Bay Seafood Sauceâ€ (page 8), â€œGrilled Oysters On The Half Shellâ€ (page 21), â€œStingaree Barbecued Crabsâ€ (page 41) among others are found. While there are plenty of interesting pictures documenting the history, there are very few pictures of any of the dishes.Â Nutritional information beyond the number of serving is also lacking. This same format continues throughout the book.

It is on to San Antonio and points south and westward in â€œPart III: Vintage Tex-Mex.â€ Beginning on page 102 and reflecting the deep Spanish history in the state are recipes for â€Classic Chili Con Carneâ€ (page 111), â€œGreen Riceâ€ (page 115) â€œCharro Beans with Baconâ€ (page 133) and various types of taco among other dishes.

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A bit north of section III is the Hill Country and Central Texas which is famous for among other things, its old world heritage. â€œPart IV: Â Old World Flavors begins on page 144 and is devoted to that history and culture. Whether it be â€œHill Country Goulashâ€ (page 154), â€œClaudia Matcekâ€™s Poppy Seed Kolachesâ€ (page 165), or the â€œTurtle Soupâ€ (pages 174-175) made famous by the Menger Hotel in the late 1800â€™s there is something to try here.

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â€œPart V County and Westernâ€ takes in far Southwest Texas, the Panhandle, and parts of North Texas from Fort Worth north and west. Not only do you look in this section for a chicken fried steak recipe (includes various gravies), but this is also where you look for â€œShade Tree Ribsâ€ (pages 212-213), â€œLoloâ€™s Brisket Tacosâ€ (page 218), and â€œGary Beamâ€™s Stuffed Burgersâ€ (page 230) among others.Â This is also where you learn to make the mandatory burger staple â€œOnion Ringsâ€ (page 234) or â€œCheese Friesâ€ (page 235) along with a number of dessert recipes.

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One can always tell a newcomer to Texas by the way they mispronounce things. They may be able to say â€œParis, Texasâ€ right, but will always mispronounce â€œMexia.â€ That is the subject of â€œPart VI New Texas Creoleâ€ with recipes based on cities and towns named for places immigrants left behind when they came to Texas. â€œFran Mancusoâ€™s Texas Sugoâ€ on page 258 kicks things off and is quickly followed by various recipes such as â€œSicilian Cauliflower Saladâ€ (page 259), â€œTexas Phoâ€ (Pages 265-266) and â€œKaiserâ€™s Steak Tikkaâ€ (page 276).

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The nearly 300 page book closes with a resource page, a photo credit page, a two page bibliography, and a six page index.

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Definite drawbacks with the book are a lack of photographs of the finished dishes as well as a lack of nutritional information.Â While there are plenty of suggestions on how to make the variations of various dishes there are no suggestion about how to make healthy versions.

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Texas Eats: The New Lone Star Heritage Cookbook With More Than 200 Recipes is a good book that is more of a history textbook than a cook book. The definition of the various regions is somewhat arbitrary, but the explanation of the history of each area and the state as a whole is extensive and detailed.Â Sure to please natives and newcomers alike, the book is a valuable resource not just to kitchen cooks.

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